The present invention relates to a liquid chemical handling system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for coupling portions of the liquid chemical handling system together to dispense liquid from a container holding the liquid chemical.
In a liquid chemical handling system of the type disclosed in U.S. utility Pat. application Ser. No. 07/426,513, a container is used for holding the liquid chemical. The container includes a fitment which is sealed to the mouth of the container. In order to dispense the liquid chemical from the container, a collar is coupled to the container. The collar, in turn, is coupled to a dispenser.
The method used for coupling the collar to the fitment and for coupling the dispenser to the collar in commercial embodiments of the liquid chemical handling system disclosed in the Osgar et.al. patent application includes single part clips. The single part clips have a first end used as a lever and a second end used as an integrally formed clip. As the lever end is depressed, the clip moves from a locking position along an arc pivoting radially away from the collar. The clip also includes a biasing mechanism for biasing the single part clip so that the clip is held in the locking position.
When the clip is in the locking position, it interacts with a notch on the fitment of the container to couple the collar to the container. However, as a separation force is exerted on the collar tending to urge the collar away from the container, the single part clips can fail. If enough separation force is used, the clips can "pop" open. This is primarily due to the arcing path of the single part clip during operation. Therefore, there is a continuing need for a coupling apparatus capable of securely coupling the collar to the fitment.